Lack of citations, is it okay for a practical guide?

[Sushan]

This topic is about the November 2021 Philosophy Book of the Month, Natural Relief for Anxiety and Stress: A Practical Guide by Gustavo Kinrys, MD


The book is written by professionals, and I am sure they had no intention of providing false information. Yet I found it quite unusual for this book to have no citations at all. Maybe the authors thought to keep this book as a practical guide for the common people, and thought not to include citations. But I think the citations would have increased the credibility of the book.

What do you think? Is it okay for practical guides to not have citations? How can the reader be sure about the content and provided information?

[LuckyR]

This topic is about the November 2021 Philosophy Book of the Month, Natural Relief for Anxiety and Stress: A Practical Guide by Gustavo Kinrys, MD


The book is written by professionals, and I am sure they had no intention of providing false information. Yet I found it quite unusual for this book to have no citations at all. Maybe the authors thought to keep this book as a practical guide for the common people, and thought not to include citations. But I think the citations would have increased the credibility of the book.

What do you think? Is it okay for practical guides to not have citations? How can the reader be sure about the content and provided information?

There are several ways of looking at this topic. Certainly I would fault the authors if they write: many studies show... Yet cite no studies. Or if they imply a controversial opinion is correct, yet don't explain why. OTOH it would not be unreasonable to say anecdotally that this or that technique works in my experience.

[Sushan]

This topic is about the November 2021 Philosophy Book of the Month, Natural Relief for Anxiety and Stress: A Practical Guide by Gustavo Kinrys, MD


The book is written by professionals, and I am sure they had no intention of providing false information. Yet I found it quite unusual for this book to have no citations at all. Maybe the authors thought to keep this book as a practical guide for the common people, and thought not to include citations. But I think the citations would have increased the credibility of the book.

What do you think? Is it okay for practical guides to not have citations? How can the reader be sure about the content and provided information?

There are several ways of looking at this topic. Certainly I would fault the authors if they write: many studies show... Yet cite no studies. Or if they imply a controversial opinion is correct, yet don't explain why. OTOH it would not be unreasonable to say anecdotally that this or that technique works in my experience.

Well, actually the authors have mentioned 'the studies say....' without mentioning specific studies. I think that makes the statement less credible. Anyone can write a book with their own experience. But the reader has the right to be certain about the credibility of what he/she reads. Here the authors have just implied 'yes, what we say are true, and the researches say so' without specifically naming any.

At the same time I believe citations should be included whether you mention or not about any resources because definitely every author refer to resources unless they invented something or researched and found something. That citation will atleast give the credit to the original source.

[LuckyR]

This topic is about the November 2021 Philosophy Book of the Month, Natural Relief for Anxiety and Stress: A Practical Guide by Gustavo Kinrys, MD


The book is written by professionals, and I am sure they had no intention of providing false information. Yet I found it quite unusual for this book to have no citations at all. Maybe the authors thought to keep this book as a practical guide for the common people, and thought not to include citations. But I think the citations would have increased the credibility of the book.

What do you think? Is it okay for practical guides to not have citations? How can the reader be sure about the content and provided information?

There are several ways of looking at this topic. Certainly I would fault the authors if they write: many studies show... Yet cite no studies. Or if they imply a controversial opinion is correct, yet don't explain why. OTOH it would not be unreasonable to say anecdotally that this or that technique works in my experience.

Well, actually the authors have mentioned 'the studies say....' without mentioning specific studies. I think that makes the statement less credible. Anyone can write a book with their own experience. But the reader has the right to be certain about the credibility of what he/she reads. Here the authors have just implied 'yes, what we say are true, and the researches say so' without specifically naming any.

At the same time I believe citations should be included whether you mention or not about any resources because definitely every author refer to resources unless they invented something or researched and found something. That citation will atleast give the credit to the original source.

I completely agree (as stated). Good pickup.